Take It or Leave It
by shatteredjewels
Summary: She meant for it to be over.  Too bad life doesn't work that way.
1. Chapter 1

**Take It or Leave It**

Sakura closes her trunk with a thud, and wipes a drop of sweat off her forehead. She takes a couple steps back from her car and sighs. The boxes stacked up in the back seat are depressing. An answering sigh from Naruto sounds from her side, and his arm slings around her. "Are you sure about this, Sakura-chan?"

She doesn't dare to turn and meet his eyes, knowing he'll see just how unsure she is about this decision. Before, when she'd called Naruto to come help her load up her things, it had seemed best, but now? Seeing her entire life boxed up and stacked inside a car? She's not so sure. He doesn't force her to answer, and instead squeezes her shoulders and then half-jogs back to the side door and into the house.

Sakura follows to see him hefting the last box off the kitchen table. He shoots her a strained grin before he brushes past her to cart the box off to his jeep. Sakura moves to the sink, grabbing a glass and filling it from the tap. She drinks it down without stopping, before collapsing into a kitchen chair. She fiddles with the glass, and wonders yet again if she should leave a note.

But what can she possibly say? _Dear Sasuke, I'm still in love with you, but living with you is killing me?_

_Dear Sasuke, Sorry I started screaming at you last night? And sorry that I got angry when you didn't yell back?_

_Dear Sasuke, I don't know if this is the right decision, but I felt I needed to do this for both of us?_

_Dear Sasuke, Sorry I'm so annoying?_

Aki rubs against her leg, and she sets down the glass in favor of reaching down and scooping the cat up with one hand. The tabby mews, most likely sensing that something is about to change. Sakura scratches the cat between her ears. "There's food and water in your bowls," she says softly. "And you've been with Sasuke longer than me, so you better take care of him."

The door slams and Naruto pops into the kitchen. He stops at the sight of Sakura with Sasuke's cat, something he's seen many, many times. He leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms. "You know, I don't really know how you put up with the bastard, but you've done an awesome job. I don't get why you gotta leave. I mean, whatever you want, I'll go with it, I just don't get it."

Sakura almost starts to cry then. Almost.

She chokes it down just in time, and forces out a weak smile. Naruto will know it's fake. "There's only so much I can do, Naruto. I give and give and give and I'm getting to the point where I just feel empty. There's nothing for me here anymore."

It hurts to say these words, but she can only be so selfless.

Naruto face is grim, but he nods and turns around to leave. She appreciates the thoughtfulness. This is it. Her last few moments in this house.

She stands, and sets Aki on the floor. She glances around. It isn't that much different. Her magnets are gone from the refrigerator; her apples removed from the fruit bowl. How long will it take him to realize she was gone?

Probably not long at all, if she's being realistic.

The question is how will he react?

She reaches to the notepad on the counter, but drops her hand. There's no point; there's only one message she can leave, and it'll only piss him off. So with nothing else to do, she sets her spare keys on the counter and follows Naruto.

_I'm sorry._

She crashes at Ino's. It's temporary until she can get settled into a new, hopefully cheap, apartment.

The first day is surprisingly easy. Ino's pounding out a term paper, and Sakura, already feeling guilty for intruding, watches movies on her laptop with headphones until exhaustion from lifting boxes all day settles in and she falls asleep.

The second day is what it gets hard.

Ino comes home with a brilliant smile, happy after turning in her paper, and demands that Sakura enjoy some girl bonding time. The romantic comedies and chocolate come out, and the two curl up in Ino's bed to giggle. Sakura appreciates the attention, but she feels slightly awkward. She still doesn't know if she's sad or angry. She might be in denial. It's only after she moves to her futon to sleep and checks her phone for messages that the facts settle in. Day two, and Sasuke hasn't called or texted or in any way tried to contact her.

It's not surprising. She ended it, after all.

It's over. It's really over.

It takes a long time to fall asleep.

Days three and four are spent at the hospital, and for once, Sakura is grateful for her thirty-hour shift. She loses herself in patients and tries not to think about anything that involves Sasuke.

Day five is spent crying.

The days start to blur together after that, as Sakura really comes to terms with what she has done.

"Sakura," Ino says one evening, watching her friend highlight apartment listings in the classifieds, "are you sure this is what you want?"

Someone has been chatting with Naruto.

Sakura lets the newspaper fall and faces her best friend. "Of course I'm not sure. Maybe I've just made the biggest mistake of my life; I don't know. But I couldn't stay there anymore, Ino. I couldn't."

Ino drops onto the bed and turns her head to look at Sakura. "I don't understand. The two of you seemed so _good_ together; you were like your own personal fairy tale come true. What happened to that?"

Sakura flops down to the bed as well, propping herself up on one elbow. "Things were good, for awhile. But… it's different now."

"It can't be that bad, can it? I mean, bad enough to leave?"

Sakura sighs. "Let's put it this way. You know Shikamaru?"

Ino blinks. "You're serious. Yes, I do believe I'm acquainted with my boyfriend."

Sakura chuckles and continues. "Shikamaru acts like a relationship is too much of a hassle, right?" Ino nods. "But at the end of the day? He comes in and talks to you. He tells you what's going on in his life and whines and complains and lets you in. With Sasuke… He just doesn't talk to me about anything. Stuff with his family is really bad right now and whenever I asked him about it, he'd either pretend he didn't hear me or call me annoying and nosy. So I stopped asking. And after that, we started just going through the motions. We'd go out to dinner and make small talk, but that's all it was. He shut me out."

Ino sits up. "You know, sometimes things get funny with Shikamaru. We go through little spells that feel really weird and off, but then with just a little time, things get better than ever. Do you think maybe you guys were just in a funk? It doesn't have to be over, Sakura; maybe you two just needed some space."

Sakura drops from her elbow down to the bed, slightly curling into herself. "No. I can't do it anymore, Ino. This has been going on for way too long. It was killing me. It was absolutely killing me."

Ino nods slowly, and leaves the room.

Sakura cries herself to sleep again.

The next couple weeks are spent finding a small, but tidy apartment. After signing the lease, she once again recruits Naruto's jeep and arm power.

She spends most of the second move sitting on the floor of her new apartment watching Naruto bring everything in. She's tired and irritated, probably due to the consistent lack of sleep since leaving. She can't get used to sleeping without Sasuke's arm around her at night. Naruto took one look at her face this morning and sent her inside to rest.

He brings the boxes in with insulting ease, and when he's done, drops her pillows and blankets on her head as he settles next to her in the maze of boxes and assorted furniture.

"So," he says with a grin, ruffling her hair like Kakashi used to do back in grade school. "How are you doing?"

She scowls and smacks the back of his head. Damn snoop.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he exclaims, "I just moved your whole damn apartment; the least you could do is answer a simple question without ripping my head off!"

She hits him again, slightly harder this time. "I would have helped, but someone picked me up and dropped me on my ass in the entry way! Way to show a lady some respect!"

"It was for your own good!"

"Like hell it was for my own good! I'll determine what's good for me, thank you very much!"

Her words, too forceful for a playful rebuttal, echo through the apartment. Naruto raises an eyebrow. "I just hit a nerve, didn't I?"

Sakura groans, and covered her eyes with her hands, shaking her head frantically.

"Sakura." Naruto's voice has taken on a serious air, which means he's about to turn her emotions upside down. "You know Sasuke loves you."

Sakura words come out slightly muffled from behind her hands. "You make it sound like that's all there is. We love each other, and that's that. Life will be perfect."

"That's how it should be!"

She jerks her head up. "But that's not how it works! Dammit, Naruto, if he really loved me, he'd say it! And I've never heard those three words from him. Ever. If he loved me, he'd have said it when I asked him to. But he didn't. I _begged_ him to; told him I needed to hear him say it, and he didn't. And I still love him, and I still want to be with him, but I can't go back to someone who doesn't love me the way I want him to and I'm so sick of thinking about all this; just make it go away!" She's close to tears again.

Naruto gathers her in his arms and they sit there.

Once her breathing smoothes out, Naruto squeezes her a bit. "I don't really know what happened between you and the bastard before you left, but he's not exactly full of sunshine lately."

Sakura peeks out from behind her hands. "What?"

"Really. Not like he's ever shitting rainbows or anything like Lee, but lately? He's been evil. He made two interns cry this week. He misses you." He nudges her with his hand. "Think about that, kay? I hate seeing the two of you like this."

Sakura hates the part of her that feels hope.

On day eighteen, she flips through her day planner, and suddenly realizes that the month is missing its customary purple stars that mark her period. She slams the book closed and walks to the kitchen to pour a cup of orange juice. She refuses to even think about it.

On day twenty-three, she comes home from her shift completely famished, and scarfs down everything she can find in her fridge. She promptly throws it up. After rinsing her mouth and brushing her teeth, she buys a pregnancy test at the drugstore and feels herself grow very cold at the sight of two faint lines.

On day twenty-six, she leaves her primary physician's office feeling sick, realizing that yes, life really is a bitch.

She's pregnant.

She picks up a bottle of prenatal vitamins on her way home. She doesn't know what else to do. There's no one to surprise with the happy news.

She initially refuses to even think about the fact that this baby within her is Sasuke's. She temporarily removes that from her mind. Business has to come first or she will go insane. So she shoves those thoughts deeper and deeper where they can't hurt her, and picks up the phone to start making arrangements.

First, she phones the hospital to discuss how her pregnancy will affect her residency. The typical maternity leave is six weeks; Sakura finagles eight because of her single marital status, but still accepts that only the first six will be covered by disability insurance. She's grateful anyway. They promise to try to accommodate her needs when she returns, and suggest she talk to some older doctors about childcare. She has nine months to plan this. Luckily, it will be cheap, one huge perk of her chosen profession.

Once she has that step completed, she sits on her bed, and tries to think what the hell she's going to do now. She's six weeks along. That means that there is a something inside of her that's still smaller than her fingernail; something that will become her baby.

Sasuke's baby.

She stumbles back to the bathroom to throw up again.

She stares at her phone for close to an hour that night, but can't convince herself to pick it up and call Sasuke. She can barely handle this herself right now, let alone face telling him. For now, just until this stops feeling like some very bizarre dream, she's going to keep this to herself.

Sakura struggles over the next couple weeks. She's tired, bloated, and moody, and having to stop by the restroom between every patient is not helping matters. She can't keep food down, and she has no one to help with her random cravings for watermelon. She hates the heartburn, she hates how achy her body feels, and she even hates how none of her bras fit anymore because of how her body has changed in such a short time.

She still tells no one. Naruto floods her inbox with text messages and voicemails, trying to get her out of her sudden funk, but Sakura responds that she's too tired from long shifts and wants to catch up on sleep. Once Naruto sees her, he'll know something's up and the secret will be out.

In a way, she's not lying. She's never been so tired in her entire life. Her co-workers notice, and she thinks that they've put the pieces together in their minds, because she's suddenly the one who always gets the extra comfy bed in the corner of the break room. Someone puts a Tupperware of sliced watermelon in the fridge. And she knows she's become truly pathetic when _Karin_ of all people takes on extra patients to give Sakura a couple more hours of sleep.

Week nine begins, and Sakura wonders what the hell she is doing. She is nearing the end of her first trimester, and she has yet to inform Sasuke of the fact. Hell, she can still barely admit it to herself. She knows this makes her a horrible person.

But she doesn't know how to tell him this. She's the one who left. What right does she have to reappear and tear his life apart?

But Sasuke's always wanted a family. He told her once, back when they used to wake up together on Saturday mornings, when he'd hold her and murmur into her hair. He wanted a chance to redeem his family name by creating a home different from the one he grew up in. He wanted children who were never afraid to laugh.

Something about that memory calms her down. Something about that memory makes her press her hands to her stomach and think, oh so briefly, about a baby with black hair and green eyes.

She holds on to that thought like a talisman when she calls him. The phone rings twice before being sent to voicemail.

She tries again.

On the third try, she leaves a message, asking him to return her call because she has something important to discuss.

Two days and seven tries later, she knows he hates her.

She doesn't even think. She gets off from a twenty-six hour shift and lets instinct take over. She knows she should be going home to sleep because she's a danger on the roads in this state, but instead she pulls into Sasuke's driveway. His light is on.

She knocks on the side door, and takes a moment to wonder what the hell she's going to say. Before she can compose herself, the door opens and there he is. His eyes are dark, his expression unsurprised and indifferent. Sakura opens her mouth and out tumble the words, "I'm sorry I left without saying anything, and I'm not here to try and come back or anything because you ignored all my calls, and that's never a good sign is it, but I really really need to talk to you about something really really important, so can I come in?"

She looks up at him, and tries to beg him with her eyes to understand.

He says nothing.

"Sasuke." It's the first time she's said his name since leaving. "Please. We really need to talk."

His eyes narrow. "You left."

"Sasuke, please, let me explain—"

"You left with no explanation. I have no desire to receive one now. I believe I heard everything I needed to hear from you the night before you left."

"But Sasuke, that's not why—" The door closes in her face. Softly. He doesn't slam it, and in his own way, he has told her that he's done. She left. He's done.

Sakura refuses to take that. She beats her fist against the door and cries out loudly. Sasuke doesn't like attention; if she makes enough noise, he'll open the door solely to avoid talking to concerned neighbors later. "Sasuke, damn you, open the door! I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen! Sasuke, I know you can hear me! Open it! Now!"

She goes on, slamming harder and harder with more and more profanity, but there is no response. Eventually, she stops.

So this is how it's going to be.

She wonders if this time, she should leave a note saying what she wants to say.

_Dear Sasuke, We're having a baby._

_Dear Sasuke, I want it to be a boy, with your hair, and my eyes._

_Dear Sasuke, I don't still don't know if we can work as a couple, but I can't do this alone._

_Dear Sasuke, I'm still in love with you, and now I need you. I genuinely need you._

But he'll hate these two words she really wants to say even more.

She sighs, and then turns to return to her car. Before entering the vehicle, she turns back to what used to be her home. "I'm pregnant," she whispers. The tears start to roll down her cheeks as she gets in her car to drive away.

**Notes**

Last of the five fics I wrote for SasuSaku month over on LJ. Theme was Alternate Universe; Prompt was Hello/Goodbye.

This one will be continued. I've started working on the second chapters of both this and Blink but I really can't promise when I'll be able to finish them; undergraduate classes start Monday and I haven't even finished my syllabi yet... Yeah... See y'all at fall break?

Enjoy, and don't forget, reviews make my day!

SJ


	2. Chapter 2

**Take It or Leave It**

The first thing Sakura does when she gets home is brew a cup of very weak ginger tea. The second thing she does is call Naruto.

By the time her friend answers the phone, she's hunched around her mug of tea, ribs heaving from her sobs. He doesn't ask questions, just tells her he's on his way and hangs up. The drive from his apartment to hers should take twenty minutes; he's there in thirteen.

Even after door slams open and he finds Sakura a mess, he still doesn't ask questions. He sits sideways on the couch, pulls Sakura backwards, and wraps his arms around her. She hands him her tea, which he sets on the floor, and curls her hands around his bicep, cuddling into him. He rubs her back as the sobs continue to rip from her throat, and when she chokes out that she's sorry, he tells her to shut up and keep crying.

And so she does. She cries because this entire situation is wrong. She was supposed to break up with Sasuke, mope for a while, and then go out into the world as a fresh, new woman and find someone who could make her happy, someone who wouldn't turn her emotions upside down and backwards. Instead, she's pregnant and alone, bound to Sasuke by ties he doesn't even know exist. She cries because she has no future.

By the time she starts to calm down slightly, Naruto's shoulder and sleeve are damp from her tears.

She doesn't know how long they sit there, but she finally stops crying and her breathing returns to normal. Naruto still runs his fingers down up and down her back, and without breaking the soothing rhythm of his light touch, reaches down to grab her tea. It's cold, but she takes a couple sips anyway, grateful for any moisture to sooth her throat that's sore from so much crying. She hands the mug back, and he sets it down as she twists and leans her back against his chest. His arms settle around her stomach. "So," he says. "Do I need to kill him, or just brutally maim him?"

She laughs, somewhat pathetically. "I wish it were that simple. I'm not sure who's more wrong, him or me. It's kind of complicated."

Naruto sighs. "With Sasuke, it always is. What happened?"

"If I tell you," Sakura says, tapping her fingers on his hands. "You have to promise not to freak out."

"Please. If I think I need to punch him in the face, I will."

She twists her head to look up at him. "Oh no you won't. Seriously, Naruto, this is important. You can't go ballistic on him about this. I'm telling you because I have to tell _someone_, but at the same time, he can't know. Not until he's ready to hear it from me. It has to be from me."

Naruto scrunches his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

She takes a deep breath, because here goes nothing. "I'm pregnant."

Naruto freezes for a second. She holds her breath as his hands fall away from her stomach. "What?" he breathes, incredulous, into her ear.

Sakura pulls away from him and sits, cross-legged on her sofa's center cushion. "I'm pregnant. I just found out a few weeks ago."

"You're pregnant?" His voice slips up in volume.

"Yes, Naruto," she manages to remain patient. "I'm pregnant."

"And Sasuke doesn't know?"

"I just tried to tell him, and he shut the door in my face. I didn't get a chance to say it."

"You're pregnant?"

She shoots him a look, and he shakes his head. "Wow. Just… Wow."

"Yeah."

Naruto leans back and whistles softly. "You're pregnant. Sasuke doesn't know. What _happened_?"

Sakura sighs. "I didn't find out until after I left. And I didn't tell him right away because I was screwed up enough in the head, but I need to tell him. I know I do. So I went over there after work tonight, and he wouldn't even let me in the house. He shut the door in my face and refused to talk to me."

Naruto groans. "And you let him?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do? It's not my house anymore! If he doesn't let me in, that's that! And he wouldn't let me say anything!"

"Sakura, Sasuke's had how long to convince himself you never loved him anyway? He's too busy being bitter; of course he wasn't going to listen!"

"He should have, after everything we've been through!"

"Yeah, he should have, but when has that logic ever worked with Sasuke?"

Sakura drops her head. "Yeah, I know."

"You should've just pushed your way in. You don't wait for an invitation or give him a chance to get a word in; you just have to yell at him and shut him down before he does something stupid. And when it comes to you, Sasuke's always stupid."

Sakura scoffs. "He probably doesn't even care."

"Oh yes he does. He'd die before he'd admit it, but he's hurt and angry and sad and missing you like crazy."

"No, he's not."

"Yes, he is. I'm the one who deals with him everyday, and I can tell. And Sasuke doesn't like feeling that way, so he's gonna lash out. You should have just yelled you were pregnant the moment you saw him. He'd have been shocked enough to shut up."

Naruto pauses, and Sakura stays quiet, reliving the earlier moment with Sasuke, trying to envision his reaction had she just shouted her news. She can't quite picture it. "Holy shit," Naruto says, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You're pregnant. Holy shit."

That's enough to make her chuckle, and she turns to see Naruto shaking his head and staring at her belly. "Are you sure?" he asks. "I mean, shouldn't you have a pop belly or something by now?"

She reaches over and smacks him. "I'm a doctor; I think I'm smart enough to figure it out. And yes. Even my doctor said it's true."

Naruto reaches out a finger, and pokes her lightly on her lower abdomen. "You've got Sasuke's kid in there. So weird! I can't believe he beat me to it."

Sakura pushes his fingers away. "That's all you can think about? That he beat you at procreating?"

"No, but it's still weird." Naruto sits back again. "But now we have to figure out how to get him the happy news. You want me to tell him?"

"No," Sakura nearly shouts.

"Or not."

Sakura clamps her fingers on his calf to let him know she's serious. "He'll be so angry if he hears it from anyone else. I have to tell him. It has to be me, so don't you dare, Naruto, don't you dare even breathe a word around him. Don't even think about it at work!"

Naruto raises his hands in a mock surrender. "Ok, ok, I get it! You can tell him! Jeez!"

Sakura gives him one more warning squeeze, and then crosses her arms with a huff. "You know I'm right. Put yourself in his shoes; if Hinata were pregnant, wouldn't you want to hear it from her?"

"Probably. Dude, you don't think—"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

They fall into silence after that, Sakura still thinking about Sasuke, and Naruto likely imagining scenarios involving Hinata and little blonde babies. Sakura finally sighs, and throws her hands in the air, hopelessly. "I just don't know how."

"We'll figure it out."

"Maybe."

"We could… We could… We could…"

Sakura arches an eyebrow at Naruto, and he repeats her hand gesture. "Well, we have to do something!"

"Well, let me know when you figure that out, because I have no ideas." Sakura reaches over Naruto's legs down to her tea. She doesn't bother drinking, but it's nice to have something in her hands.

"I'll ask Hinata," Naruto says, flicking her arm. "She's good with this kind of stuff."

Sakura laughs, and the subject is dropped for the evening. She curls back up into his chest and they watch a corny movie on her television. He tucks her into bed when she falls asleep.

Things get a little bit easier after that. It helps to know that she's not alone with her worries. Though she tells no one but Naruto—and by extension Hinata—it still helps to have some support.

She calls Sasuke once. He doesn't answer.

It's morning, and she stands in front of the mirror in her underwear and considers her appearance. The first noticeable change is the new network of veins spider-webbing over her abdomen. It's week ten, so according to the pregnancy book Hinata sent over with a basket of vegetables yesterday, they are right on time. She laughs a bit as she examines them, because Sasuke would have found them fascinating. Her pale skin has always held an attraction for him, and he loved to trace all her features: her freckles, her veins, any mars from scars and scratches; he'd follow them all with his fingers and lips.

His fingers should be here too, tracing over her body's new changes. She suddenly feels impossibly alone. Her fingers rest against the new veins, but there should be someone else's hands on top of her own, someone else marveling at all this with her.

She will not cry, though. Not today. And she takes a moment to remember that she's not entirely alone. Not anymore.

She turns sideways, and sure enough, her stomach is slightly round. Not by much, she could barely be qualified as "showing," but her normally flat stomach is curving slightly. She smiles, and places her hands over her abdomen. This is it. The beginning.

Her phone interrupts her thoughts, and she's mildly surprised to see her mother's number pop up on the screen. She glances at the calendar magnet on the corner of her mirror, and realizes that with the sudden influx of important dates related to the little grapefruit sized baby in her tummy, she's completely forgotten about her monthly phone call from her parents.

Sakura's relationship with her parents is an odd one. Neither wanted a child, or particularly cared for raising one once she was born. She was conceived by accident in a cheap hotel somewhere in Sand, born nine months later in Rain, and raised in Leaf by parents that mildly resented her for the interruption. The day after she turned eighteen, her parents put the house up for sale, and by the end of the month, sold all their possessions and left for Grass, leaving her behind to make her own way.

She flips her phone open and greets her mother, who she learns is sitting on a sandy beach sipping a fruity cocktail that has been deemed "disgustingly sweet." Sakura laughs, and asks for a postcard, as usual.

Sakura drums her fingers over her hips as her mother details her plans her plans to rent a boat and stay out on the water for a few days, and considers whether or not to tell her that she will soon be a grandmother. On one hand, she wanted the next person she told to be Sasuke. On the other hand, there's only so long she can hide the news.

"How are things going for you, Sakura?"

"I'm pregnant," she blurts, without even thinking.

There's a slight pause, and then her mother asks, sounding somewhat bemused, "And how recent is this news?"

Sakura can't help it. She laughs. She doesn't even know why, but she laughs so hard she almost chokes. If the laughter is a bit hysterical, well, can anyone really blame her?

When she stops giggling, her mother is chuckling as well. "I'm raising my glass to you right now, darling. I'd say let's toast over the distance, but no more drinks for you. How far along are you?"

"About ten weeks. I didn't know yet last month."

"Ten weeks? So the father is that Uchiha boy, isn't it? The broody one?"

"Yes, Kaa-san."

"And how is he taking the news? Is your boy's house big enough for a nursery?"

Sakura fidgets. "He doesn't exactly know."

There's a pause. "Why haven't you told him yet? Are you planning to get rid of it?"

Sakura closes her eyes, and pictures, briefly, what her mother's reaction must have been back when she found out she was pregnant. "No, Kaa-san. I'm keeping the baby."

"Are you sure? It might be easier for you to just let the thing go."

"No, Kaa-san. Just, no."

"Ok, sweetie," her mother replies blithely, unaware of the subtext to her words. "It's up to you what you do. Would you like me and your father to come back to help you?"

"No, Kaa-san, I'm fine. You two can come when he or she is born."

"Oh, that would be nice. I still haven't seen your little house."

"I'm not living there anymore. I moved out before I found out I was pregnant."

"Oh." Sakura hears someone calling, likely her father. "Are you comfortable? Do you need money?"

"I'm fine."

Sakura's mother's voice is slightly distracted. "We'll put together a little care package for you. Maybe I'll pick up some onesies instead of postcards, and send those instead! Wouldn't that be fun? We'll get you some in every city!"

"That would be fine, Kaa-San."

They speak for only a few minutes more. Sakura's mother says nothing to her father.

That night, Sakura eats an entire box of chocolate, and throws it all up. She blames the craving on the baby.

Curled up in bed, she flattens her palms against her little bump, and speaks to her baby for the first time. "I'm not giving you up," she says. "I don't care how hard it gets; you're mine. Mine and Sasuke's, and even though your father is a stubborn jerk, I will tell him. I'll find a way. He's going to know about you, whether he likes it or not. And I don't care what happens after that. I don't care if he decides to walk away. You and me are going to be just fine. I'll take care of you. Just you wait; we'll be just fine."

During her next hospital shift, the victims of a roll over car crash come through the hospital, including a mother and the infant daughter she'd been holding in her lap. Sakura holds her professional façade in place, ignoring the knowing looks from her coworkers. Instead, she allows another doctor to send the two off to surgery, and spends her afternoon treating the mother's cousins, the only people in the car wearing seatbelts. She keeps one overnight for observation, but has the other out in six hours. She hears in the break room that both mother and child died. The doctor who treated them squeezes Sakura's shoulder on his way out of the room.

Sakura is usually very good at leaving work at work, but that night she goes home and sobs. She pulls out her phone to call Naruto, but instead, finds herself dialing Sasuke.

It's the same message she's heard so many times, but she lets it beep, and tries to talk around her tears. Mostly she cries, but she manages to choke out, "Please, Sasuke. Please. Just… Please."

The phone doesn't ring for thirty minutes, and so she takes the hottest shower she can stand. When she returns to her room, she checks her phone by habit, and freezes because the missed call icon is flashing in the lower right hand corner. She almost drops the phone as she frantically punches at the buttons.

Sasuke's name is on her missed call list.

Her knees give out, and she half falls on the bed and stares at the screen. After all this time and effort, she missed the call. She actually missed the call.

She redials his number, and bites her lip. If she's lucky, he won't over-read the fact that she didn't answer his call.

She gets his voicemail. She tries again. And again. And again.

In the end, she throws her phone on her bed and scowls. "You know," she says to her baby. "Sometimes I think the fates are conspiring against me or something. First, they make me fall in love with your idiot of a father. Then they make our life fall apart. Then you come along, and everything gets messy, and now, when I finally get a shot at telling him, this. And of course, Sasuke is the kind who never accepts that maybe you were just taking a shower when he called. No, he'll fully convince himself that I was sitting here staring at the phone ringing, choosing not to speak to him, like he's been doing for weeks. And now he'll _never _answer, the hypocrite. This sucks. You had better be a perfectly behaved little baby, because after all this? Yeah. I deserve a little peace."

When she curls up in bed, she realizes that, even though she still stressed over still not getting to tell him, Sasuke's call took her mind off the events at the hospital. She sleeps all the way through the night for the first time in what feels like weeks.

Maybe, just maybe, there's a glimmer of hope.

Naruto accompanies her for her eleven-week appointment. She thinks there's something wrong with this, but at the same time, it doesn't bother her. The receptionist doesn't shoot her any pitying looks, and watching Naruto's horrified expressions as he flips through a maternity magazine is _hilarious_.

Naruto gets antsy once they get back into the clinic. He wants to know when they'll find out if it's a boy or girl, what names she likes for either gender, why she hasn't let him tell Sasuke yet, when she's going to get fat, why she isn't craving ramen, and what if she has twins! They spend fifteen minutes arguing over whether or not her potential son will be named Naruto.

(A very small part of her is mildly tempted to spite Sasuke.)

Once her ob-gyn enters, things run smoothly. Sakura has a general knowledge of what's happening with her body—though she didn't specialize in obstetrics, she did a couple rotations here and knows a lot of the drills.

Naruto gets grossed out when they draw her blood, which makes Sakura laugh, and gets excited when they set up her ultrasound. "Will we get to see if it's a boy or girl, Sakura? Huh? Huh?" he exclaims, grabbing her hand.

Sakura rolls her eyes. "Did you not hear a word I said? Look at the posters. At what week does it say you can typically tell gender?"

Naruto scrutinizes the helpful posters decorating the walls, and stumbles through reading one as they finish setting up the scan. He forgets all about his mission once they start pressing buttons on the machine and squirt the gel.

He stays quiet, as does Sakura, as the images of her baby flash on the screen. There's something amazing about knowing that this isn't just any baby she's seeing on the screen. This is her baby's head, and her baby's hands, and her baby's feet. The doctor runs through a checklist of things they're looking for, and it's nice to hear the confirmations that no birth defects are detected, but mostly, it's just nice to see her little child. The doctor then moves on to check the heart.

And then it happens. It's like the thrumming of a hummingbird's wings, quick and light and absolutely perfect.

"Huh," her doctor says. "That was unexpected."

Naruto turns, "What?"

"That," Sakura says, beaming, "was my baby's heartbeat." She turns to her obstetrician. "Do you think you could find it again?"

"Possibly," he says, moving the ultrasound wand around. "We usually don't hear heartbeats this early, but you're a skinny little thing. Let's see…"

And it happens again. Sakura's smile almost splits her face, and she giggles as she watches the screen. Naruto's hand forms a vise around her fingers, and his dumbfounded expression makes her laugh even more.

They get to listen for another half-minute before the doctor moves on to other things, but the noise resonates in Sakura. She can't stop smiling. Naruto never stops looking shocked.

"Betcha wish that was your baby in there," she teases as they leave the office later. She's too busy tucking away her card to remind her of her next appointment in and fidgeting with her purse to notice the lost expression that Naruto shoots her.

When she turns back to him, he's smiling. "That was awesome. Really, really cool. I mean there's really a baby in there. Like, really, and it's growing and has a heart and stuff."

Sakura beams. "I know! And we got to hear it! Wasn't that amazing?"

Naruto nods. "Yeah, that was really special, you know? Seeing it and hearing it for the first time."

Sakura notices that his forehead looks drawn. "Are you ok?"

He nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just… That should've been Sasuke, you know? It's kinda weird that it wasn't. I mean I'm glad I was with you! Really! But yeah. Sasuke should have heard that."

Sakura doesn't respond. Instead she fiddles with her purse straps to avoid looking at him.

"But hey! You've got another appointment in four weeks! That's tons of time to work some magic! It's totally gonna be Sasuke with you next time, mark my words."

Sakura shakes her head and sighs. "Maybe."

Naruto drives her over to his apartment, where she and Hinata coo over the ultrasound DVD. Naruto remains quiet, but after a slight shrug from Hinata, Sakura leaves it alone.

A few days later, Sakura comes home from a walk to the corner grocery to fill a craving for ice cream to find that her door is unlocked. Confused, she cautiously pushes it open, almost expecting Naruto to pop out and try to scare her. There is nothing, and so she slips inside and out of her shoes, and tiptoes to her living room.

She blinks, because the sight is entirely unexpected. Sasuke is sitting on her couch, wringing his hands. A noise of disbelief escapes form her throat, and he looks up. He's on his feet so quickly it makes her dizzy. "Why didn't you _tell_ me?"

Oh crap. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.

Naruto finally caved.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>

And there you have it. The second installment.

I apologize for the great gap, but that's what happens. This semester was particularly rough, and I could only get snippets of writing in. However, I celebrated my long awaited winter break by fleshing it out and getting this up! I've written some later scenes; I just have to figure out what happens between here and there.

Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

SJ


	3. Chapter 3

**Take It or Leave It**

Sasuke transferred to Sakura's high school during the second term of eleventh grade. His broody demeanor, aristocratic looks, and the accompanying rumors of expulsion from his old school made him an instant celebrity. Placed in Sakura's class, the sight of him bowing to his peers made her breath catch.

During lunch that day, hiding from Konoha's clinging September heat in the shade of a tree with her circle of friends, Sakura listened to Ino's excited gossip about the new student. She'd gleaned his name, his birthday, and that his family was incredibly rich, but hadn't found the reason for his supposed expulsion. Ino whispered, with a sparkle in her eyes, "They say it had something to do with his brother, but no one knows if it's true or not. Isn't that sexy?"

Sakura agreed, and watched the boy in question as he passed through the courtyard, sparing not even a glance to the many students whispering about him. He had a slight slouch, but the cold expression on his face made the casual posture seem demeaning to those around him, rather than lazy on his part. He looked dangerous, and Sakura's heartbeat accelerated with his every step. She watched as he sat, alone, underneath a tree across from the girls, and pulled out his lunch.

Sakura's friends squealed and in hushed whispers starting arguing over who would make the first overture to the handsome stranger. Sakura sat up to join in, and then paused as she watched him. Despite the influx of noise, he remained aloof.

As she watched him eat his rice, she could see how this would go. She could join in to the current plotting and try to get close to him, but she knew she'd be rebuffed. Sakura was pretty, but there was no way she could entice a boy like _that_. Some beautiful girl in the school could probably catch him, but in all likelihood, Sakura would not be the one to bring a smile to that solemn face.

Sakura took a moment to stuff her flailing inner self deep into the recesses of her brain, and shook her head slightly before turning her attention to the leftover korokke in her bento. A boy like that was like moonshine. Beautiful to look at, but so completely out of reach. She could try, but she'd prefer not to embarrass herself. Better to just not get her hopes up.

She kept that promise to herself. Over the next few weeks, her friends found it odd that she wasn't listening for tidbits and rumors about the boy's past, but Sakura was strong-willed and determined to not even think about falling for him. She controlled even her daydreams, perhaps aware that the slightest slip would send her plummeting.

Fate, or rather their physics teacher, had other ideas. Three weeks later, Sakura was teamed up with Sasuke and Naruto in lab, with an assignment to build a paper roller coaster.

Ino was furious, and Hinata gently jealous as Sakura stood up to join the two boys. She was stunned and more than a little nervous. Naruto was one of her best friends and she could handle him just fine, but working with Sasuke was more than intimidating. Over the weeks, she still hadn't been able to stop the hint of butterflies in her stomach when she looked at him, and she was worried that being in close contact with him would wreck her careful control. She vowed, as she walked across the room, that she would not let it happen. She would not make a fool of herself in front of him.

They agreed to work at Sasuke's. The apartment Naruto shared with Jiraiya was a hazard zone, and Sakura's house, as she explained hastily when Sasuke turned his eyes on her, wasn't really fit for company. In truth, she didn't want Sasuke to see her home, almost bare of the furniture that made her mother feel too tied down.

She rode the bus to Sasuke's house with Naruto on a Saturday morning, and the sight astounded her. She'd never seen a house so massive in Konoha. It was beautiful, traditional down to its manicured gardens, and even Naruto was a little awed as they walked up to the entrance.

Sasuke met them out on the engawa, and seeing him in casual shorts and a black shirt made Sakura's heart jump. He was flippant in his welcome, and Sakura walked behind the two boys who, already somewhat friends and rivals, started bickering as Sasuke led them to his kitchen.

As they walked through the halls, Sakura was struck by the hushed quality of the house. A house this big needed relatives and noise, but instead, the atmosphere suited Sasuke. Quiet and morose. She could tell that Naruto noticed as well by the crescendo of his voice to cover up the quiet. She appreciated the gesture because the house made her uneasy. The silent halls made the whispered rumors at school about violence and family secrets more likely to be true.

She was glad she'd made her decision three weeks ago to not pursue Sasuke, because even if a miracle occurred and he fell for her, she could not handle this house.

The kitchen was equally quiet, and they settled down at the table to work. Naruto's first order of business was to suggest a trip to the nearest amusement park for research, but Sakura's elbow in his ribs shut him up while she pulled out a pad of paper to sketch their plans. She caught Sasuke's smirk when she delivered the blow, and cursed her butterflies for their revived flurry.

Sakura did most of the design, with some help from Sasuke, and Sasuke and Naruto made up her building team. When they weren't stealing tape or staples from each other, they worked well together. They didn't even need to speak as they built, each instinctively knowing what the other was doing, and how to work around the other's hands to support the construction.

Their coaster was the best of the class. Which doomed Sakura to more projects with the boys.

As the weeks passed, Sakura found she liked the mornings spent finding snacks in Sasuke's kitchen while they tackled their latest assignment. She started to relax around Sasuke, and on more than one occasion, forgot the distance she was still trying to cultivate and pummeled him just as easily as Naruto. Horrified, she always apologized afterwards, but Naruto's echoing laughs in the house warmed him enough to just smirk and let her mistake go.

At school, Naruto assimilated Sasuke into his group of friends. He didn't seem close to any of the boys except Naruto, but due to the inclusion, Sakura spent a few lunches eating beside him. She was polite, and even joked with him once, but was still careful to never get too close. Cheerful mornings in his kitchen were one thing, but the walk through the silent ominous halls to that haven reminded Sakura why she needed that distance. He was a boy who had secrets.

The turning point for Sakura came one Saturday when the kitchen door flew open, startling them all, and Sasuke's beautiful mother sailed in. Sakura gaped.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the woman scolded, moving across the room to swat her son lightly on the head. "How many times have I told you to reschedule this little study group so I could actually meet them? It's halfway through the term; you make your mother look like a horrible hostess."

"Kaa-san!" Sasuke complained loudly, as his mother bowed to Naruto and Sakura.

"Welcome, you two. I've been trying to meet you for weeks, but I usually have appointments on Saturday mornings, which is when my ever-conniving Sasuke has you come to study. I apologize for his terrible rudeness."

Ignoring Sasuke's protests, she moved to the kitchen counter. "Now, what would you like to eat?"

The house, and Sasuke, came alive in Mikoto's presence. She made them homemade ramen, much to Naruto's delight, and watching her playfully push Sasuke around, igniting a hilarious petulant side in her son, made him more approachable. During subsequent homework sessions, now rescheduled to afternoons, Sakura forgot to be so careful around him. She teased him just as much as she teased Naruto, and Sasuke's retorts made her laugh and him scowl. He started smiling more, and once, in response to Naruto screaming after setting off the mousetrap they were using to build a car, he laughed. After settling down, he avoided Naruto's punches and smiled at a stunned Sakura.

That smile was what did it. After he smiled that special smile, just for her, she was doomed.

By the end of the term, Sakura wondered if she had a chance. Though he never relaxed at school the way he did with his mother in the kitchen, a softer side sometimes slipped through for Sakura. Her friends commented on it, and even Ino backed off with her flirting. This surprised Sakura, because she'd figured this situation would happen forsome other girl. That, if she had chased Sasuke, she'd have to watch him fall for someone else. But instead, she was treated like the winner.

She hesitated, because he still had so many secrets. She wondered why she'd never met his father or his rumored brother. She wasn't even sure he thought of them as friends.

But... then again... Maybe.

She was lingering in the kitchen after studying for their final examination. Naruto had left an hour ago, claiming that his brain was crammed too full of information to fit in anything else. She'd stayed, and she and Sasuke quizzed each other back and forth across the table. Placing down her cards to signal she was finished, Sakura sipped the tea Mikoto had poured her earlier.

"This has been fun," she said, setting down her cup. "You, me, and Naruto.

He was distracted, and had been all day, and she should have honed in on that, but her mind was scrambling to remember what she'd planned to say the night before, practicing over and over in her head to get it right. She thought of this as her last chance. "Are you going to miss this? Us working together?"

"Aa," was her only answer.

She fiddled with her cup. "Next term, we'll have new partners and we won't get to do this anymore. Unless you're up for broadening your horizons to somewhere outside your kitchen." Sakura folded her hands in her lap to stop her shaking, and mentally commanded her voice not to waver. "Like, going out to eat somewhere or to a movie or something."

Sakura peeked up through her eyelashes and watched Sasuke's brow furrow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just thinking that it might be fun to see each other outside your house. Go somewhere and do something different. Like... a date, or something."

There. It was out there.

Sakura couldn't meet his eyes, and instead looked at his shoulder. "I mean, just if you want to. It's not a big deal if you don't; I just think it could be fun."

She watched his shoulder, memorizing the stretches and folds of the fabric while she waited for him to respond.

"I don't... No, that's... I... I don't think I want to."

As Sakura looks at Sasuke in her living room, the plummeting feeling in her stomach is very much the same as that moment so long ago.

"Why... How?" She reaches blindly for the wall to keep her steady on her feet.

Sasuke springs forward. "Do you have _any idea_ what it was like to learn that from Naruto? To have my best friend tell me I'm going to have a child?"

Sakura isn't used to Sasuke yelling at her. Even the night before she left, he still didn't raise his voice. It startles her, and she feels her shoulders hunch as she instinctively shrinks into herself.

"And then I find out that not only does he know this when I don't, he went with you to see it! To listen to its heartbeat! To do what I should have been doing! Why didn't you tell me?"

The strength in Sakura's arms gives out, and she slumps against the wall. Sasuke is too close; she can feel the heat of his breath on her cheek as he yells.

"And to think that if it were up to you, I still wouldn't know! When were you planning to let me in on your little secret, Sakura? Were you even going to say anything?"

"No," Sakura whispers, feeling sick. Her next words are stronger. "You cannot say that I didn't try to tell you. You know that I did!"

"You said you had something to discuss. This is not exactly something up for discussion, Sakura!"

Sakura straightens up, but still uses the wall to keep herself from collapsing. "What was I supposed to do? I called you and I called you and I tried to talk to you, and you wouldn't let me!"

"You should have tried harder. You've had weeks and weeks, Sakura. How did you justify keeping it to yourself all this time?" The slamming of his fist on the wall startles her, and when he speaks, his voice is tighter, more controlled, but somehow filled with even more fury. "Did you know?"

Sakura looks up in confusion, and sees a very hard expression on Sasuke's face. "What?" she whispers.

"Did you know before? Is that why you left, Sakura? Tell me, is that why?"

This accusation snaps her out of her shock, and she yells, "No!" surprising Sasuke. He steps back, and she pushes herself off the wall, hand going to her head as she stumbles for the couch. The physical world is tilting and she really doesn't want to throw up right now. She collapses on the couch and laces her hands behind her neck, curling her spine to put her head between her knees.

She stays there until she feels Sasuke's fingertips cautiously brush her shoulder, a soft phantom touch. She forces herself not to flinch. "Are you... Do you..."

She fills in the blanks. "Tea. Ginger tea helps with the nausea. Don't make it too strong though."

She hears his footsteps leaving the room, but she doesn't dare move. Her stomach is rolling because this was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to tell him, on her own time, when she could be braced for his reaction.

The minutes pass, and she sits up. One hand drops to her stomach, followed by the other. She looks down at her interlaced hands and sighs.

Sasuke returns with a cup of tea. She doesn't dare look at him as she accepts it, and as she drinks it down, Sasuke sits down beside her. They remain in silence until she finishes her tea. She sets her cup on the floor, and angles herself on the couch so she can look at him.

His hair is disheveled and a little too long, and she can tell just by looking at him that he's been working too hard. He's lost a little weight, which means he's been living off instant meals from the office's vending machines. She wonders if she looks much better.

She drops her gaze to his hands. "I didn't find out until about a month after I moved out," she says softly. "I must have gotten pregnant right before I left."

"How far along are you?" The anger is gone from his voice, replaced by a monotone.

"Almost twelve weeks."

Her eyes shift to follow the movement oh his face as he nods, and she's looking into his dark eyes again. She makes herself look away.

"So when you came over?"

"I was trying to tell you the happy news. I should've blurted it out when I saw you, or left you a voicemail or something, but... First, I guess I just wasn't ready, and then after that, I really wanted to tell you in person. I'm sorry you found out this way."

Sasuke exhales. "Well, what's done is done." She looks up at him, but now he's the one staring at her wall. "At least now I know."

Sakura doesn't respond because she doesn't know how. She twiddles her thumbs as they sit there and the silence stretches between them, but Sakura has no idea how to bridge the gap. Finally, Sasuke speaks. "Does anyone else know?"

She glances at him in her peripheral vision. He's still looking away. "Just my parents. Well, my mother at least. I doubt she's told my father. She didn't care that much."

Sasuke nods, and Sakura ventures a question of her own. "Are you going to... tell your father?"

"Of course." Sasuke leans back into her couch cushions. "Otou-san's reaction will be legendary, but it has to be done."

"I'm sorry."

Sasuke shakes his head. "You don't have to be sorry about this."

Sakura starts picking at her shirt, incredibly uncomfortable. She focuses on snapping a loose thread when Sasuke speaks again. "You'll be moving back in with me."

Sakura freezes. Sasuke doesn't notice. "We'll convert my study into a nursery. I can move my desk into the living room for now, until we expand the house or look into buying a bigger one."

Sakura closes her eyes, and wills herself to cool the sudden angry heat in her belly. But she can't believe he's doing this again.

"It might be best to think about a new one. That way you can co-sign the title, and if anything happens to me, the family can't seize the house."

"Um, how about no," Sakura snaps. "Seriously, Sasuke?"

His eyebrows draw together. "What?"

Sakura slams her knees to propel her onto her feet. "It just figures." The words are bitter as they rip out of her mouth. "After everything, you just march in and start dictating things."

She stalks into the kitchen and starts slamming the drawers open and closed looking for a knife. After three satisfying crashes, Sasuke steps into the kitchen. He crosses his arms and leans against the doorjamb. "I'm not dictating things." His eyes follow her around the kitchen. "I'm just pointing out what makes sense."

"Have your forgotten everything that happened before I left? All of that just doesn't disappear just because I'm incubating your kid!" Sakura pulls out one of her small watermelons and a cutting board. Turning her back to Sasuke, she starts slicing, telling herself that she is not imaging the melon as his face. "You're not taking over."

She can sense more than hear Sasuke's muted groan. "You're turning this into something it's not."

"Oh, am I? You seem to have a pretty short-term memory if you think I'm going to be at all willing to come back. That's just stupid. All the problems do not go away just because I'm pregnant."

"Sakura."

"Don't, Sasuke." Sakura finishes cutting, and transfers the pieces of fruit to a bowl. "Just don't." She doesn't sit down, instead popping a few pieces into her mouth still standing at the counter.

She chews and stares at Sasuke, boldly meeting his gaze. He glares back at her. Her apartment is once again silent, but it's a different silence than before. This is the calm before the brewing storm. Words are unsaid, but she knows they're both thinking about the night before she left.

He speaks in a tight voice. "We have decisions to make, Sakura. I'm going to be a part of this whether you like it or not."

"Well, that's fine, but what you're not going to do is make decisions _for_ me. This baby belongs to you, but I don't anymore. I'm not moving back in with you; the baby and I will be staying here. And that's final."

"That's stupid. This apartment is barely big enough for you, let alone a baby. Where are you going to put a cradle?"

"In my room."

"It's not big enough."

"It'll fit a normal crib. Maybe not one with a canopy, but I can get a normal crib. Which is better than where my parents stuck me." Sakura decides that eating isn't enough, she needs to do something with her hands. The bowl clatters against the counter as she returns to her cutting board to slice up the other half of her melon. "I slept inside a _drawer _after I was born, Sasuke, and I came out just fine. We don't need you to buy us a mansion."

"That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to make sure that you're properly cared for."

"I can take care of myself!" She turns to glare at him; he's moved and braced his hands on the surface of her kitchen table. "And I can take care of a baby too. We will be fine, without your interference!"

"Will you stop talking like that? Is it so bad that I want to help you? Are you just going to freeze me out?"

Sakura doesn't answer. Instead, she eats more watermelon.

Her lack of response doesn't stop him. "And you're going to need help once its born, you know that. You're in the middle of a residency; you won't be able to take of the time that I can. You know that you're going to need my help. Why are you acting like this? And why are you even eating watermelon?" The last sentence grates harshly out of his mouth, betraying his exasperation. "You hate watermelon."

"Well, Baby Uchiha doesn't," she retorts.

The remark silences him, and he watches her as she eats her fruit. He shakes his head and pulls a chair out from her table to sit down. After a moment, she joins him. He clasps his hands underneath his chin, and looks at her, and she almost smiles at his business-like expression.

"I want to be involved," he says.

"I want you to be involved."

He nods. "But you refuse to move back in with me."

"Obviously."

"That's ridiculous, and you know it. You shouldn't be living alone in your condition."

Sakura's hands smack her forehead. "Will you just drop it?"

"I'm making a legitimate point. Sure, you're fine by yourself now, but what happens in a few months when it gets difficult to do things? What if you fall? You shouldn't be living alone."

"Ok, you're entitled to that opinion, but I'm not required to listen to it! I'm not coming back, Sasuke, and that's final!"

"Why are you being so stupid? You know I'm right!"

Sakura jumps to her feet again. "No, you are not right. This, Sasuke, this is why I left! You say you listen, but you don't even hear a damn word I say!"

Sasuke propels himself to his feet. "I do listen to you-"

"No, you don't! Sure, maybe you hear the words, but you don't process them. Everything you think is right, and everything I think is wrong. Well, guess what? I don't care what you think anymore. You may be involved with this child, but your involvement will be on my terms!"

"Sakura."

"And I think you need to leave. Now."

"Sakura."

"I'm serious. We'll talk about this later, after you've had time to calm down."

"I am calm!"

"Well, I'm not! And right now, I want you to get out!" Sakura's voice rises, and then cracks on the last word, and her arm snaps up to point at the hallway leading to her front door.

Sasuke's eyes widen and they face off over the table. Her chest heaves, and she can feel tears prickling the corners of her eyes. She swallows.

Sasuke turns, sticks his hands in his pockets, and walks out of the room. He's slouching, which she hasn't seen him do for a long time.

She collapses back at the table and finishes her watermelon. She follows it with a huge bowl of ice cream.

That night, a storm starts building, and the wind whistling against Sakura's window keeps her awake. It doesn't help that her heart rate is still elevated, and the muscles in her neck and back are tense. She's stressed, and she knows it's not good for her. She tries a breathing exercise and rubs her tummy to calm herself down, but nothing works. She glares in the general direction of the ceiling, angry that what she wants more than anything right now is Sasuke's arm around her, keeping her secure. Her own stupid feelings, betraying her.

After an hour and a half of tossing and turning and cursing the stupid wind, she leans over and grabs her phone. She takes a moment to look at it, and wonders if this is the right course of action. She wants him involved, but as evidenced by the earlier argument, Sasuke has his own ideas about how this is going to work.

She shakes her head, and presses the button. He may not even answer.

But he does. On the second ring.

"I can't sleep."

He sighs on the other end. "Are you ok?"

"The stupid storm is keeping me up. And I'm stressed and kind of freaking out right now."

"Do you need me to come over?"

"No, I'm okay. I just can't settle down. What are you doing right now?"

"Reading."

"Oh."

The line quiets. She imagines him, sprawled on the bed with the lamps on, one hand tucked under his ear, propping him up as he flips the pages. She'd fallen asleep watching that scene many times.

To her surprise, Sasuke breaks the silence, uncommon on the phone. "I've been thinking about what you said."

"Really?"

"Yes, Sakura. And I still don't like the idea of you living by yourself, but I'll drop it. But I am going to insist that we come up with some sort of support network for you. You're going to need help. If you won't accept it from me, then it'll have to be someone else, but you're not going to go through this alone."

"Ok."

There's a pause. "Ok, then. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Mmm."

"Very well. And you're going to need a lot of stuff soon. You're supposed to get even hungrier soon. Are your clothes okay? I can buy you new ones; they say that sometimes at thirteen weeks, women start growing out of things for different reasons."

"Mmm." There's something funny about this conversation.

"And I'm buying you some orange juice. You're going to be susceptible to illness, and that combined with the fact that you never get enough sleep-"

"Sasuke, are you reading a pregnancy book?"

There's dead silence on the other end. "No."

Sakura can't help it. She starts giggling. She tries to hold it in for his sake, but the idea of Sasuke buying a baby book... She snorts out another laugh.

"This isn't funny."

"Oh yes, it is." The last word breaks off into another peel of laughter.

"I fail to see-"

"Sorry," she gasps, and then manages to swallow her giggles. "I'm sorry, but wow. I'm so glad I called you. I needed that."

She can tell he's sulking, even over the phone. "Oh, Sasuke. It's okay. I had my time to panic; you're entitled to a freak out moment too."

"I am not panicking."

"Ok." Content now, Sakura curls deeper into her sheets, a sleepy smile on her face.

"Well, I'm still buying you some orange juice. And some clothes. And I want to buy the crib. You can pick it, but I get to buy it. And when is your next appointment? I want to go next time."

"In a few weeks." She yawns. "And yes, you'll be coming."

"Good."

He continues talking, but Sakura barely hears him. Laughing softly, she mumbles, "We're having a baby," and falls asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Notes<strong>

****And we're off!

****_Whew_, this was not easy to write. I ended up trashing and rewriting the flashback multiple times trying to get it right (and hopefully succeeded) and then the rest got reworked over and over... It's hard to write arguments! Especially because I didn't want to reveal _too_ much of their history. Writing panicking!Sasuke was way fun, though. Poor guy.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this, and a big huge thanks to those who have left reviews. It makes my day, and helps me stay motivated. So thank you very much!

SJ


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